Mark your calendars for October Big Day—14 Oct 2023! Like Global Big Day, October Big Day is an opportunity to unite around our shared love of birds. Last October, nearly 35,000 people from 185 countries submitted 80,000 checklists with eBird, demonstrating the power of birds to bring people together.
Wherever you are on 14 October, take a few minutes to join in this global celebration. Participate from anywhere—even from home! By taking part in October Big Day you’re also celebrating Global Bird Weekend and World Migratory Bird Day. Be a part of the global team and help set a new record for October birding.
How to participate
- Get an eBird account: eBird is a worldwide bird checklist program used by millions of birders. It’s what allows us to compile everyone’s contributions into a single massive October Big Day list—while at the same time gathering data to help scientists better understand birds. Sign up here. It’s 100% free from start to finish.
- Watch birds on 14 Oct: It’s that simple. You don’t need to be a bird expert or go out all day long, even 10 minutes of birding from home counts. October Big Day runs from midnight to midnight in your local time zone. You can report what you find from anywhere in the world.
- Enter what you see and hear in eBird: You can enter your observations via our website or download the free eBird Mobile app to make submitting lists even easier. Please enter your checklists no later than 17 Oct to be included in the results announcement.
- Watch the results roll in: During the day, follow along with bird reports from more than 180 countries in real-time on our October Big Day page.
eBird Trip Reports on October Big Day
eBird Trip Reports are a great way to share where you went and the birds you found on October Big Day. We had so much fun exploring eBird Trip Reports from last October and can’t wait to see more this year!
Simply create an eBird Trip Report for 14 October 2023. As you submit lists and upload media throughout the big day, they’ll be added to your report automatically. Send the trip report link to friends and family so they can follow along. (Learn more about eBird Trip Reports)
Create an eBird Trip, such as this one from October Big Day 2021 by Liam Ragan, to share your locations, species lists, and media from October Big Day. You can make eBird Trip Reports for past October Big Days as well!
October Big Day Pro Tips
- If you’re new to eBird or want to make your checklists more valuable for science and conservation, take the free eBird Essentials course.
- Use eBird Mobile Explore to find nearby places to go birding and recently reported species.
- Discover new things about your favorite species with Birds of the World—FREE ACCESS starting 8am ET Friday, October 13th through 9am ET Monday, October 16th.
- The Cornell Lab’s free Merlin Bird ID app can help you to identify the birds you see and hear on October Big Day. Upload your recordings to your eBird checklists to help Merlin identify more birds by sound.
- Make your observations more valuable: submit complete checklists, keep counts of the birds that you see, and keep multiple checklists throughout the day.
- Share what you’re seeing on social media with #OctoberBigDay!
No matter where you go birding on 14 October, have fun, enjoy the birds you find, and share your observations with eBird. Your checklists will help us better understand global bird populations through products like these animated abundance maps brought to you by eBird Science.